Like You: The Confrontation
by Corinne Jane
Summary: The third installment in my 'Like You' series. Merely days after Gibbs had learned about Tony's abusive childhood Gibbs goes to Confront Tony's Father.
1. Chapter 1

He sighed as Tony began to snore. He had told him to stay home but DiNozzo never listened; he just hoped the man wouldn't get sick; he did need his second-in-command at work. He had realized just how much they needed him when it took nearly twice as long to piece together the seemingly innate pieces of information and evidence in a case. It had been a top priority case that proved to be exceedingly difficult, Tony would have been a great help, he had went home to talk to his right hand man about the case to get his thoughts on it, but when he mentioned the CIA was involved Tony wouldn't hear a word of it. Saying he didn't want his 'vacation' ruined by thoughts of the world's scum. Staring ahead he gave a slight smile, ever since Trent Kort blew up DiNozzo's car Tony had been less than fond of them, however Gibbs personally didn't think Kort was responsible for planting the bomb. Kort was capable of it, without a doubt but he wasn't stupid enough to attempt to murder a federal agent without the CIA backing him.

At first they had thought they were dealing with a Serial Killer since all the kills were Korean Immigrants, however that theory was killed the second he walked into his basement to find Trent Kort working on his boat. He had lifted an eyebrow, as Kort turned and said, "You really should tell DiNozzo to be more careful and aware. If I were a serial killer trying to kill him, He'd be dead."

Gibbs certainly got his point across to DiNozzo the minute Kort had left. Apparently there was a rogue CIA agent on the loose, Ava Darel; she had gone insane under the pressure of the job and became paranoid to the point where she thought that there was a North Korean Operative in D.C. planning an attack on either America or to gather secret Intel. Ava thought she'd be safe and kill anyone that even spoke Korean to prevent the attack. Everybody's nerves had been frayed to the point where they were all fighting each other, effectively stopping their investigation, until once again, Kort ended up on their doorstep with Ava in tow. That's when things started to turn bittersweet; that was when he had failed to protect a victim. He may not have failed a marine, but he failed a person that risked everything for her country and for the people residing in it. If there was any hope for the CIA to be redeemed in his eyes, it was through Ava. And he failed her.

_Closing the door behind him, he sat down opposite of the curly redhead, her grey eyes glanced at him for less then a second before returning to their thorough search of the room. She glanced back at him sharply, leaning forward she titled her head forward and said in a low voice, "We're being watched, so be careful what you say." She leaned back in her chair and silently placed her hands in front of her on the table, clasping them she looked at the glass with a blank look on her face._

"_You're in interrogation, Ms. Darel, you are being recorded." Gibbs said quietly, a cool tone to his voice. Her eyes looked at him._

"_Why'd you put me in here? You know I can't speak to you." She said snottily._

"_Why's that?"_

"_Because you're not one of us. I don't know who you report back to; who's recording me, where that tape is going to go….there's too many chances for something to go wrong. For all I know you've been bribed or corrupted by them. That's why I'm here isn't it?" She said suspiciously._

"_I do not take bribes. You are here because you've killed ten Korean immigrants, all were legal citizens." He said laying out photos of her kills in chronological order._

"_Yeah. So? If someone's gonna kill you rise up early and kill them first, right?" She said shrugging, looking at each photo closely._

"_Are you telling me that all ten of these people wanted to kill you?" He asked disbelievingly._

"_Someone matching their description wants to harm a lot of people. Or gain information that will harm many people. You people aren't about preventive measures, you stitch up wounds. What I do for the CIA is make sure they don't happen." She said softly._

"_Maybe so. But your Director says that he never gave orders for you to kill any of these people. Yet you did." He said hard as steel._

"_He didn't believe me when I said I heard voices in the night plotting the demise of our nation. Korean voices." She answered sitting up in her chair as he leaned forward he said, "Roper said you had no evidence."_

_She shook her head, her curls flying, "Not at the time. All the proof I had was what I heard, but much of our job relies on our senses. We hardly ever deal in hard core evidence. We report back to the Director and he trust our words." She explained, knitting her hands together_

"_That makes it very easy to lie, make things up. And your Director would just back you up. No wonder Rogue CIA agents are a problem nowadays. What's the matter Ava? Get a little trigger happy with nothing to shoot?" He taunted coldly._

"_No! You have to believe me. I heard what I heard. There wasn't enough time to figure out who the North Korean Operative was." She explained._

"_So you decided to just kill them all?" He asked solemnly._

"_I did what I had to, to keep my country safe. I won't apologize for that." She replied coldly, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for an escape._

"_Don't expect you to; it's a sign of weakness." He said calmly, looking her over. _

"_I want to speak to Trent. I know he's here. I can sense him." She demanded. He nodded and stood up; he walked past Kort on his way to observation and nodded. He watched from behind the glass as Kort took the seat farthest away from her. _

"_They're coming Trent. All of them! Legions of them!" She said in a hysterical whisper, Gibbs smirked at her loose tongue, her trust in Kort surprised him but then again they were both CIA so maybe it shouldn't. Maybe she knows she isn't getting out of this one so she's passing on her Intel and job to Kort._

"_Really Legions you say? And where are these Legions coming from, the sky? Or perhaps they are zombies…" He trailed off sarcastically, "Surely you are aware of the fact that there is a limit on how many people can immigrate to the United States from a particular country, not to mention the long waiting list."_

"_They've been here for years! They've only just been activated!" She said wildly._

"_Really? So you're telling me that a legion of North Korean Operatives entered the States under the pretense that they were from South Korea and after years of being here are suddenly activated, and you were just in the right place at the right time?" He drawled lazily, lifting an eyebrow._

"_It's true! I see things and hear things at night in my home. They come all the time! They whisper things, horrible things; I can see their shadows on my walls. They have me made, you have to stop them. I can't." She whispered pathetically, reaching across the table and grabbing his hands, her eyes pleading with him._

"_Where is your proof?" Kort snarled disgustedly. Ava took her hands off of his and into her shirt, taking a memory stick and USB Flash Drive from her bra she placed them in his hands._

"_They won't stop. I tried to find them but I couldn't. I couldn't." She told Kort._

"_Roper's orders were clear. Back off." Kort replied coldly._

"_Maybe he's in on it too?" She said hopefully._

"_Or not." Kort said coldly, with that he pulled out his gun and put a bullet in her forehead._

They had made their way to Abby's lab to see what evidence Ava had had on the supposed attack, there were voices on the disk, speaking a different language, they put it through a filter and had Ziva listen to it. She had turned to them and said, "Ava was protecting her country the only way she could. That's North Korean, and they are planning to bomb the CIA building." He had turned to Kort who was looking at Ziva blankly then he shrugged and said, "She was of no use to us anymore anyways. She was too paranoid. Better to dispose of her now rather than wait until her paranoia came back to bite the Agency in the butt. Preventive measures indeed." Smirking he had left. He immediately went home; he hadn't waited for the reports or for the others to go home, he had just left. It was an hour later that he listened to the news on his radio, the CIA building had been bombed, 47 casualties, 10 injured. He almost smiled, only repressing it in respect of the 47 who had lost their lives; he hoped Kort was getting a chewing out from Roper.

Looking ahead he saw the mansion, or as Tony had always put it 'The Estate', it was almost impressive, almost. It had a run down appearance, almost like in the horror films; it was obvious no one took care of the home that they merely lived in it without caring what it looked like. Parking in front of the doors he got out and thought about leaving Tony in the car but before he could make a decision Tony popped out of the car opposite him and gave him a grin.

"Ready DiNozzo?" He said looking him over.

"Never been readier boss!" He chirped, the look in his eyes said otherwise and he rolled his eyes.

"Come on then. We don't have all day. I want to get home before Dinner." they walked up the stairs together and knocked on the door, no one answered. Tony sidestepped him and just pushed open the door.

"Hey Dad where are ya?! It's your one and only son Tony!" The sick man shouted hoarsely, it echoed off the walls and up the stairs. There was no way Senior didn't hear his loud and obnoxious son. Sure enough, only minutes later DiNozzo Senior opened the door down the hall way to the left and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here Anthony? And who's that?" His Father said sharply, not wanting any part of his son.

Gibbs walked over to him somewhat calmly before he took Senior by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the corner of the doorpost as hard as he could. Hearing a crunch, and seeing Senior's face twist in pain he felt a satisfaction in making the older man hurt like he had hurt Tony.

"I am your son's boss, dirt bag. That's who I am. And you, you are nothing but a selfish, disgusting piece of shit." He said angrily, in a quiet voice, his icy blue eyes blazing with blue flames.

"Excuse me! How dare you come into MY house and spew forth such--" Senior started angrily before Gibbs cut him off.

"How dare I?! How dare I?! How dare you! What right did you think you had to abuse your child?!" He throttled Senior, his hand banging off the doorpost. Suddenly Tony said loudly, "Gun! In his jacket boss!" Tony had raised his weapon, pointing it at his father as Gibbs took it out of Seniors' pants and slid it over to Tony, before turning back to Senior and punching him in the face.

Senior fell on the ground, Gibbs reached down and dragged him over to the couch, throwing him on to it he towered over him, getting into his face he spat, "Your son has become a fine agent and an even better person with a big heart, I don't know how that's possible seeing as how he grew up with a bastard like you, but he managed to escape your evil ways. He is mine now, and if you ever come near him again I will make your life a living hell. I know people who can erase your whole identity, every record of you even being born will be destroyed, your name will be erased anywhere it appears, it will be like you never existed, your house would be repossessed, the money in the banks would go to Anthony. You won't even have a name. I also know some people who would love to terrorize a child beater. Night and day they will make your life hell, they will drive you to the point of suicide and right when you are about to pull the trigger Senior, I will swoop in and beat the shit out of you until you die. How does evisceration sound?!"

Somewhere through the rant he had begun to throttle Senior again, his face red and spit flying from his mouth, Rage consumed his entire self, as a laser of blue fire seemed to shoot from his eyes. No one hurt one of his people and got away with it. Turning around he saw Tony watching subdued. He sighed and said, "Tony leave us for a minute, I'd like a private….word with your Father."

He seemed to ignore him in favor of his Father however as he stepped forward and looked at Senior.

"Did you ever love me? Were you ever proud of me? Just once?"

"Be proud of what?" Senior spat looking at Tony in revulsion, Gibbs nearly smacked his face off as he saw the look of hurt on his agents face.

"You know, all I ever wanted to be when I was a kid was you. But then I realized that you're a monster. And I don't ever want to be like that, so instead I chose to put away monsters just like you. One day, karma is going to come around and kick your ass Muhammad Ali style." Tony said, swallowing back his feelings, turning he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Gibbs just looked at him, "And just think, I'm not karma, I'm just pissed off." With that Gibbs pulled Senior off the couch and threw him against his desk, snarling Senior grabbed an envelope opener and hid it behind his back. Running at Gibbs he slammed him into a wall, raising the weapon in his hands, Gibbs butted him in the head, and kicked Senior in the stomach, sending him across the room. Stalking angrily over to him Gibbs grabbed him and punched him in the face, twisted his arm behind his back and kept twisting until Senior was screaming for mercy. "You go near him again Senior and I will break you." Gibbs threw him over his desk and stalked out.

He found Tony leaning up against the wall in the foyer, waiting for him. "He still alive Boss?"

"He's no longer your concern DiNozzo." He said in his usual Gibbs manner.

"Right. So what's for dinner? Pizza?" Tony asked hopefully.

Smiling slightly he said, "You've had that for the last three nights."

"Pizza never gets old Boss. Pizza is to NCIS Agents as Donuts are to Police Officers." He said smiling.

"Better not get fat on me DiNozzo, or I'll be forced to grapple with you." Gibbs said, smirking.

"Yeah, well this time I won't take it easy on you old man." Tony boasted, puffing out his chest dramatically and flexing. Gibbs smiled openly and said, "Never call a sniper old Tony. We're so precise that we can shoot off any appendage precisely without fail."

Tony blanched and feigned fear. "You wouldn't. Well, not to me anyways there was that guy you shot in the ass."

"Don't you forget it DiNozzo." He said.

"You know what we should have for dinner? Some good ole Hamburger and fries, I know this real good club we could go to, the woman there are real hot, there's even a feisty redhead. Looks like she's ready to settle down if you know what I mean." Tony said smiling slyly over at Gibbs.

"Never pick up girls at a strip bar, Rule number fifty-one." Gibbs stated dryly, delivering a sound smack to the back of his head. Tony sighed and said, "There we go. Normalcy has been returned."

"There's nothing normal about your womanizing, movie-quoting ways. It's unhealthy." Gibbs stated.

"What? And Boat building isn't? What's the point of building the boat just to burn it down? Regardless of the symbolism. You could very well have gathered a few things she liked and burned them you know. Boats are expensive to make. You could probably get another wife with all the money you'd have if you didn't build those boats. Is that why your marriages failed because you spent more time with the boat then the woman?" Tony said, ignoring Gibbs glare.

"DiNozzo--" He started before he was cut off by a bullet whizzing past his ear, ducking he grabbed his gun, Tony's already out, both were in a crouching stance, aiming their guns at DiNozzo senior.

"Drop your weapon! NOW!" Gibbs yelled Senior just kept pointing it at Gibbs then aimed it at Tony and fired. Gibbs shot back as Tony dropped to the floor and fired. Senior dived behind a door and began randomly shooting in their direction, backing them into the next rooms, Gibbs motioned to Tony to cover his six as he went forward, crouching down low he paced forward, Tony shooting at Senior; covering him.

As he moved forward so did Tony, crossing over so he had a clear shot of Senior, he felt bullets fly by him. He just prayed he'd make it out of this alive.

He finally got the asshole in his line of sight and without hesitation shot him right in the chest, through the heart and out the back. Holstering his weapon, he noticed how peculiarly quiet his Second-In-Command was, turning around his heart froze. Lying on the floor nearly five feet behind him was Tony, a gun shot wound to the middle of his chest and one in the leg. His legs went numb as he tried to rush over to him but managed to fall instead, finally reaching DiNozzo, all he could think was, that his prayer didn't cover both of them.

**TBC….**

**A/N--Stay tuned, originally I planned to shoot him then have the whole thing end with them in the hospital but I thought of something else. Chapter two will be up tomorrow or Thursday. ****J**


	2. Chapter 2

His heart beat wildly as he searched for a pulse he nearly missed it as his hands shook, but it was there, faint and shallow. He took off his coat and pressed it against Tony's chest as his eyes flickered open, groaning Tony stared up at him with glazed eyes dimmed with pain.

"Hang in there DiNozzo, help is coming." He said quietly as he dialed the number for the local ambulance and gave them the street address and their situation.

Tony just stared up at him dazedly, pain shooting through his chest, every breath he took felt like someone was stabbing him repeatedly. "Hurts, boss."

"I know Tony. Focus on me. The team. We need you at work Tony. If you think you are going to be taking a permanent vacation you are wrong. The paperwork has to go through me and I won't allow that. But nice try." Gibbs said gruffly, with a strict tone. Tony quirked his lips, causing one of the many knots in Gibbs' gut to loosen slightly. He couldn't lose Tony, not after he had lost Shannon and Kelly; he didn't know what he'd do then. There would be no revenge; there'd be nothing to fall into. He had joined NCIS in memory of his first wife and daughter; to make sure something like that didn't happen again and if it did he'd make sure to catch the bastard. But Tony wouldn't die because he didn't know if he could find a replacement for his trusted second in command; he didn't believe there was anyone as good as Anthony DiNozzo out there.

"Boss….." Tony whispered his eyes searching for those of his surrogate-fathers.

"Yes Tony?" Gibbs said gently.

"I care about you too." He said visibly grimacing; Gibbs could read the insecurity and fear in his eyes.

"I know you do Anthony. You had my six, I should have had yours. I'm sorry Tony." Gibbs said solemnly, his voice nearly cracking.

"Sign of weakness Boss." He gasped out, blood spewing out of his mouth; Gibbs gently brushed the blood off his chin and hit his cheek gently.

"Not between friends DiNozzo." Gibbs said softly, as he watched the life of his Agent start to seep out of him before his very eyes. "Don't you die on me, you aren't allowed."

"Wouldn't dream of it Boss." Tony said pain filling his voice. Gibbs glanced up irritation in his eyes as he wondered where the damn ambulance was. He looked back down when he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve, a lump formed in his throat as he saw the resignation and acceptance in Tony's green-brown eyes.

"DiNozzo! You will not die! I will drag your ass out of the grave and transfer you to Tobias' team. You want to be partnered with Slac--sachs for the rest of your life?!" Gibbs said harshly.

"Wouldn't do…that….Fornell would get…better….ratings then…you." He gasped out, his back arching off the floor in agony.

"Don't you tell me what I would do, DiNozzo. You have no idea." Gibbs said coldly.

"Boss……..Dad…." Tony said quietly, Gibbs heart constricted as he heard the one word he thought he'd never hear again out of anyone's mouth. He blinked back tears that suddenly came to his eyes, he hadn't been there for Kelly's death; he had wanted to; if not to save them then to at least hold her in his arms soothing and easing her worries and fears and help her pass on gently. And now that he had the chance to do that he realized he didn't want to; he didn't want to see the life fade from his only son's eyes, he didn't want to feel his partners body go limp, he didn't want to go on without his Second-In-Command. He had almost eaten his gun after Shannon and Kelly had died but the thought of Bastards, like the men who had murdered his family, murdering others stopped him. Now he had no excuse, because it was his fault, his mistake that would cost Tony his life. He wanted to run far away, and never look back, he didn't want to face the consequences of his actions but he knew Tony needed him. He gathered Tony in his arms gently, holding him in his lap; he kept pressure on his chest wound, not giving up.

"You have survived everything else DiNozzo you are going to survive this. Do you hear me?! You will survive this!" He tightened his grip, trying to pull DiNozzo back to the world of the living.

"Not going to….it's been…a….honor….working…with you. You've taught me….so much….thank you." Tony said tightly.

"Don't you say goodbye to me DiNozzo. You aren't going anywhere's." Gibbs voice finally cracked as the reality of the situation hit him, and hit him hard. He had lost men in combat before, he had lost his family, he had even lost a team member before, but he hadn't, couldn't, lose his partner. '_Not without me_' He thought desperately.

"Boss…..don't….blame yourself….I know you are I can see it in your….eyes. Just…don't do anything….stupid when I go. Ok? Promise me you….won't do anything stupid…..please, for me?" Tony said painfully, eyes begging, Gibbs swallowed dryly and nodded, whispering in a hoarse voice, "I promise. Tony…..I don't want you to…..I can't……you're the best agent I've ever had, but more than that, you are my friend, my son…..I don't want to let you go yet."

"I know…..but…ya'have to boss….it'll be….ok….McGee is…ready to be Senior Field Agent….and the probie pool…is full……I left….a file…in my desk…..with a probie picked out in case this…happened." DiNozzo said.

"You weren't planning this were you DiNozzo?" Gibbs said harshly as he finally heard the sirens, if he just kept Tony talking he may have a fighting chance.

"Nu-uh. Right under your nose….and you had no idea about it?……never could…hide anything from…..you Boss." Tony said

"You hid Lodestone pretty well." Gibbs said.

"Yes well, I wasn't trying to. I just didn't answer questions." Tony said, "You getting…rusty boss?"

"Maybe, that's why I need you around. I'm too old to train a probie." Gibbs said warmly, smiling, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Yeah I can see the grey starting to form……" Tony trailed off as Gibbs swatted him, gently and affectionately on the head. Suddenly a sadness swallowed him whole, drowning him in complete and utter depression; the thought of never bantering, joking around with his partner hit him hard. It was too much to think about, too much to think that his desk would be vacant, the silence that would present itself in his absence, the thought of training someone else to fill Tony's spot. The thought that there wouldn't be a reason to smile anymore. He felt a hole developing in his heart at the very thought of DiNozzo dying.

He looked down at Tony, fear and sadness blazing in his blue orbs, "Tony……"

"I know Boss. I know." He gasped out. As the EMT's rushed over to them, his head jerked up, he wrestled down the hope that had developed he snapped, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Lost. All these houses have a driveway that you can hardly see the house." one of the younger men said.

"You got lost?!" Gibbs yelled trying to reign in his anger as he saw Tony wince, they got him on a stretcher not a minute later and into the ambulance, blood running off his chest and dripping onto the floor, Gibbs frowned as he saw all the blood that had soaked into his jacket, too much blood. Hopping into the ambulance with Tony, he put his hand over Tony's, they locked eyes and Tony quirked his lips.

"Told you you'd make it." Gibbs replied smirking. Tony smiled and maneuvered his fingers so they could gently squeeze his. Leaning over he placed a gentle kiss on DiNozzo's head, he watched as his son's eyes filled with tears that spilled onto the pillow. He gently brushed them away, affection shining in his eyes.

Anthony DiNozzo gave one last smile before his heart stopped beating and he coded. Gibbs jerked back suddenly, his mind screaming "NO!", his body tensed as the EMT's brought out the defribulator, he hung to Tony's hand tightly, "DiNozzo! You come back here right now! You hear me! Don't you dare leave me to train a Probie! You think I want to clean out that messy, disgusting pig sty desk of yours?! You think I want to go to work without you everyday? Get back here now! That's an order!"

He watched desperately, praying to any and every god he could think of to save his boy. "Come on DiNozzo I know you can do this. Please." He whispered gruffly, emotion heavy in his voice.

It was five, long, agonizing minutes later that he leaned back, and listened numbly as they called the time of death, a look of utter devastation on his face, he slumped, all the life sucked out of him as he looked at the dead body of his agent, his friend, his _son._ He placed his head in his hands and gently tugged at his grey hair, trying not to lose it. He still had to notify the team and type up his report. He didn't know how he could tell them that he had kill Tony, that he had let him come along with him, how he had left Tony uncovered, that Tony had had his six, but Gibbs didn't have shit. Tony had trusted him with his life and he had let him be blown away.

"Tony…" He whispered, "Tony I am so sorry. So sorry."

They reached the hospital minutes later, Gibbs ordered the body back to Ducky's lab and drove back to NCIS. Walking in, a wary look on his face, he walked slower then usual, looking older then he actually was and feeling it too he sat down, and beckoned both Ziva, and McGee over to him. He picked up the phone and called Ducky and Abby up his voice hoarse and raw with grief.

"Gibbs where is Tony?" Ziva asked curiously, "Is he alright?"

"Wait for the others." He said quietly watching for Ducky and Abby. Soon enough they arrived and looked confused and hesitant at the look on his face.

"Gibbs what is this about? And where's Tony?" Abby asked uncertainly.

"This is about Tony. I found out some…unsavory facts about DiNozzo's past, and went to confront his Father, Tony insisted he come, I told him no but didn't force it. We arrived there, I roughed up his Father, we were leaving when DiNozzo Senior pulled a gun on us, We were shooting it out when I told DiNozzo to cover me, that's when he was shot to death. Tony is dead." Gibbs stated flatly.

"What?! Tony? Our Tony? Gibbs…you can't be….you hafta to be….not our Tony!" Abby said trying to not cry but failing miserably as tears leaked out of her eyes. McGee had went silent, as did Ziva, Ducky placed a hand on Gibbs shoulder, looking all his years, frowning he bowed his head in respect. It was thirty minutes before anybody moved. McGee and Ziva left silently, not uttering a single word, not showing any emotion, or shedding a single tear. It was only after they left that Gibbs let it sink in that his son was dead. Sobs wracked his body as he stared at Tony's desk, empty and dark. Never to be lighten up again. Abby wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and brought his head to her shoulder, as tears poured down his face, Ducky squeezed his shoulder, frowning up at Director Shephard, as she cried for the loss of her agent.

**TBC.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N--The only reason I Didn't put a Major Character Death warning on this fic was because Tony does not die. Therefore there are no deaths. Sorry, perhaps I should have put a nightmare-Death? Anywho, I am sorry for causing such confusion and angst among my readers. So I was in my bed trying to go back to sleep this morning when I thought of the episode where Tony was in the hospital and he flatlined so they got the paddles ready and were shocking him, and Gibbs was watching from outside the glass. I was trying to figure out what episode that was for like two hours before I realized that was from CSI: Miami. LOL. This is very short and the last chapter, I'm not particularly proud of the last two pieces of "Like You." So I want them over so I can return to writing things I can actually not be like "This isn't write." I have a Gibbs Abby bonding fic in the works and another Gibbs and Tony one. But a more realistic one.**

"Sir are you ok?"

Gibbs' eyes flew open as they took in the room he sat up, laying before him was his Senior Field Agent. He sighed in relief as he saw his chest rise and fall rhythmically. He put his face in his hands, realizing that their were tears on his cheeks; he had been crying in his sleep. It had only been a couple hours since DiNozzo Senior had shot Tony, Gibbs hadn't left his side for one second, not even to call it in. Instead he sat by his side and wrote his report on the shooting of DiNozzo Senior; hoping that Tony would wake up soon.

"Boss….?" Tony said on cue.

"Bout time you woke up DiNozzo." Gibbs stated flatly.

"Sorry getting shot makes me a bit tired. I'll try harder to wake up sooner next time." Tony said sarcastically.

"You do that DiNozzo. But if you ever get a shot again you are going to want to stay unconscious for a while." Gibbs stated, Tony smirked.

"Boss, you realize you aren't scary anymore right?" he said, Gibbs looked up glaring, and Tony shrunk back. "Ok well, just a little bit scary."

"That's what I thought DiNozzo. Now will you get done healing so we can get out of here? We got a case." Gibbs said in his usual brisk manner.

"I'm trying boss. Unfortunately I don't possess the skill of regeneration just yet, I keep trying to work it out but the majority of the time I'm healthy." Tony said matter-of-factly.

"Doesn't seem like it to me DiNozzo, I find myself sitting at your bedside all the time." Gibbs said, Tony started laughing, as Gibbs swatted the back of his head, only stopping when his ribs and chest burned in pain.

"That's what you get." Gibbs said.

"One day Boss Karma is going to kick your ass too." Tony said, slurring his words as he pressed the morphine drip.

"Karma owes me." Gibbs said.

"I thought I was repayment." Tony stated smiling.

"Now it _really_ owes me."

**END.**


End file.
